Ever wonder how a band can sound so good at a concert and then sound so bad in a smaller venue? Most likely, the small loudspeakers available to most houses of worship, clubs, and performers have a relatively narrow dispersion pattern and can't be flown like touring arrays. Most full-range loudspeakers can provide ample punch and frequency response when you are positioned directly in front of them—but sit off to the side, even just a little bit, and the sound quality quickly deteriorates.

We at Mackie turned to the gurus at Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) for a solution to this dilemma and they, in turn, developed Tetrad™ Technology. This remarkable technology makes its debut in the Mackie S408. The ideal choice for any establishment where high quality live sound is crucial, including houses of worship, DJs, club sound reinforcement, and keyboard/drum monitoring. And if that weren't enough, the Mackie S408's trapezoidal shape makes it perfect for vocal monitor wedge applications.

HOW TETRAD WORKS
In a typical 15", 2-way loudspeaker system, the 15" speaker offers relatively slow transient response, and the small high-frequency horn tends to beam a narrow, blaring sound at the listener—end result, muddy sound. By replacing the 15" speaker with four 8" drivers (that's what tetra means, four), we increased the driver surface area to 201 sq. inches from 177 sq. inches, creating more punch and a tight, more focused low-end. We know it's hard to believe, but four 8" transducers offer better transient response and move a bigger column of air than a single fifteen. Which brings us to the horn…

VOCAL CLARITY AND PATTERN CONTROL
By using four 8" low-frequency drivers, we are able to drop an extremely large horn into the S408 and still keep the cabinet size small. Besides presenting a more friendly load impedance, a bigger horn yields lower distortion, better pattern control and allows the horn to operate more efficiently at lower frequencies‹all the way down to the heart of the critical vocal and midrange zones. Since this larger horn is more stable through the crossover point, the transition to the LF drivers is virtually seamless, in terms of frequency response and directivity. All this adds up to greater consistency throughout the entire coverage pattern, resulting in vastly improved intelligibility across your entire audience.

SOLID CONSTRUCTION
The S408 is constructed of solid 18mm Baltic Birch plywood and coated with wear-resistant, textured black PVC vinyl paint. These cabinets are built to stand up to rugged use while maintaining their stunning appearance. Top and side-mounted, balanced-optimized carrying handles make them easy to transport.

POWER HANDLING
Due to its extremely efficient design, the S408 can be driven by even the smallest of power amplifiers. But to showcase its full potential, strap-on your beefiest amp (maybe one of our M-Series High-Efficiency Power Amps) and climb to a new level of sound quality and professional capability. The S408 is, quite possibly, the closest thing to “concert-quality" sound on the market in its class.

VERSATILITY
Designed for maximum versatility, the S408 can be stacked, or pole-mounted, on the S410s Subwoofer. It can also be flown via 12 integrated rigging points, either vertically or horizontally. They function extremely well when arrayed in pairs, providing outstanding coverage to an incredible 150 degrees. And the S408's trapezoidal shape makes it perfect for use as a floor monitor.